ECO-BRIEF
The Environmental Product Life Cycle:
Environmentally Friendly Design
Sponsored by: HP
Matthew Eastwood
February 2007
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Environmental awareness continues to rise, and customers of all types 鈥? consumer,
SMB, and enterprise 鈥? are realizing that the IT products they acquire and use on a
daily basis need to be designed with a different set of criteria in mind. In addition to
the environmental concerns critical to the global marketplace, there are some very
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real business considerations that must be addressed. IT users expect reduced
operating costs as well as more predictable disposal costs at the end of the product
life cycle. Creative product design is the first step in a product life-cycle strategy with
the goal of developing environmentally friendly products for customers of all types.
For a graphical depiction of the product life cycle stages, see Figure 1.
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FIGURE 1
Global Headquarters: 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA
HP Approach to Reducing Environmental Impacts and Engaging
Stakeholders Across the Product Life Cycle
Source: IDC, 2007 adapted from HP
BACKGROUND
Although creative environmental design can be approached in many ways, the goal is
quite simple: addressing environmental factors in the design, manufacture, and use of
products. While environmental considerations have always been part of the design
process, environmental awareness continues to become a more pressing imperative;
as a result, the concept has become more important for IT users of all types. The goal
is simple in concept, but successfully executing an effective environmental design
program can be quite complex. This brief looks at how HP approaches its goal of
environmental design and manufacturing without compromising other customer
requirements, such as quality, reliability, and price.
HP Approach to Environmentally Conscious
Product Design
As part of its global citizenship program, HP made an environmental commitment to
its customers, raising environmental standards in its supply chain and reducing
environmental impacts associated with its products. HP understands that its
worldwide environmental impact is primarily felt by customers through the products it
brings to market. Additionally, HP realizes that the environmental performance of IT
products is largely determined at the design stage. Proactive and creative design can
lessen the environmental impact of IT products while providing benefit to a very
diverse customer base. HP created a Design for Environment (DfE) Program
15 years ago to raise the profile of its environmental objectives around the world. The
DfE initiative has three primary goals:
! Materials innovation. Incorporating materials that have less environmental
impact into products while reducing the volume of materials used in these
products
! Design for recyclability. Developing products that are simpler to upgrade
and/or recycle at their end of life
! Energy efficiency. Decreasing the energy required to manufacture and operate
HP products
The European Union (EU) has taken a leadership role in the movement to restrict the
use of hazardous substances in products of all types. HP has worked to embrace the
EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directives, which control the use
of specific materials (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and two flame
retardants: polybrominated biphenyls [PBB] and polybrominated diphenyl ether
[PBDE]) in electrical products sold inside the EU. Similar restrictions on
environmentally hazardous materials, which are heavily based on the EU鈥檚
regulations, are being implemented around the world. Beginning in 1999, HP worked
aggressively to ensure that all RoHS regulated materials were eliminated from all HP
products. In fact, HP currently meets or exceeds RoHS compliance requirements on a
worldwide basis.
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The complexity of HP's supply chain combined with the breadth of HP's product line
makes environmental design a complicated undertaking. HP cannot meet these
objectives alone, and it works closely to implement eco-friendly design processes with
its global supply chain. Additionally, HP works closely with a number of industry
partners and consortia 鈥? including International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative
(iNEMI) and High Density Packaging User Group (HDPUG) 鈥? to ensure that its
aggressive environmental goals are achieved. HP Labs is often part of the innovation
process, and HP continues to be involved in the development of international industry
standards efforts aimed at incorporating component specifications, testing standards,
and material declaration protocols into its product design philosophy.
IDC Analysis
Beginning with the European Union's RoHS regulations and extending into Asia and
the Americas, HP has moved to embrace a new series of environmental regulations
that have emerged around the world. The complexity of HP's worldwide product line
necessitated the early involvement of and careful coordination with its global supply
chain. The result is a set of products that is less costly to deploy, operate, and
properly dispose of at the end of their life cycle. IDC believes that HP's product design
strategy results in tangible benefits for IT customers of all types 鈥? consumer, SMB,
and enterprises across all industries.
It is important to point out that HP also faces a number of challenges. IDC continues
to believe that many IT users fail to fully recognize the importance that appropriate
product design holds for them. Regulatory requirements associated with proper
product usage and disposal continue to evolve rapidly. While awareness is clearly
rising, HP and other industry participants will need to work carefully to further raise
environmental awareness to the point where it becomes a fundamental component of
the product selection process. This transformation will take some time, but as
regulatory requirements mature and environmental awareness continues to rise, it is
clear that IT users will change their attitudes toward the IT products they buy and the
suppliers they choose to buy from.
CONCLUSION
Reducing the environmental impact throughout an IT product鈥檚 life cycle all starts with
design. By giving careful consideration to materials selection and manufacturing,
process vendors can ensure their products have less need for problematic material
removal at their end-of-life stage. Working closely with supply chain partners triggers
benefits in procurement of more eco-friendly parts and materials, and designing with
power and cooling efficiency in mind reduces demands on energy consumption and
on operating costs for the enterprise. IDC believes that HP鈥檚 effort to include eco-
responsibility in its product design stage has yielded tangible environmental and
economic benefits for its customers.
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HP Products and the Environment Document
Series
This eco-brief is part of a series of IDC documents commissioned by HP to discuss its
environmentally aware policies and practices. This series includes a core white paper,
HP Products Built to Protect the Environment, as well as standalone eco-briefs
focusing on specific product areas: product design, manufacturing, power and
cooling, and product end of life.
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Copyright 2007 IDC. Reproduction without written permission is completely forbidden.
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